My Heroes

I first discovered heroes when I was four years old and my younger sister was two. On one particular excursion in San Francisco, we stepped off the bus at our destination only to turn around and see the bus driving away with our mother still on board. Frantic, we started screaming and crying as people hurried by. Within a moment, a newspaper seller left his stand unattended and positioned himself between my sister and me. Draping his arms around our shoulders, he calmly reassured us that our mom would be there soon. “She’ll get off at the next stop, and she’ll come running here. You’ll see,” he said. Sure enough, through tears streaming down my face, I saw my mother running uphill to the corner where we waited, still snuggled in the arms of the newspaperman. Releasing us to my mother’s hug and gripping his white cane, the man returned to his stand and resumed his business. Though young, I somehow understood that this newspaper seller, the one who saw the needs of two, very frightened little girls, was blind. He was my very first hero and I believed Jesus helped him to see. 

That’s the quality heroes have—the supernatural ability to see and hear what is going on around them and the courage to act on it. Heroes are on a God-directed mission. Some heroic actions require immediate obedience to the inner voice that commands “move, now!” or the opportunity is lost forever. Most heroics, however, is the steady, purposeful focus given by a few attentive people that guides and shapes the recipient’s life. I’ve been blessed by a few such heroes.

Mrs. Harris was my first Sabbath School teacher. She called on me week-after-week to participate in the Missionary Band song, awakening in my heart the desire to be active in saving the lost. Another children’s hymn that Mrs. Harris taught, Tell It Again, brought tears to my seven-year old eyes as I envisioned youngsters in foreign lands longing to hear the Good News. At home I would repeat these songs by memory.

I am certain Mrs. Harris’ influence and spiritual instruction had much to do with my decision to follow Jesus. I am just as certain that my parents’ nurturing and love was significant in my early life choices, too. My parents both brought children into their relationship; this was their second marriage. My birth made me number five, followed by my sister who became the baby of six kids. Numbers didn’t seem to matter in our household, though. My parents always welcomed unrelated, homeless, down-and-out men, women, and children in need of a meal and some family love. I grew up with the notion that the mission field begins at home. My early childhood was filled with music, stories, laughter, pets, family vacations, Church attendance and outings. We also experienced illness, financial struggles, and relational dynamics that are part and parcel with a blended family. My father’s example and affection taught me dependability, responsibility, and family loyalty. My mother’s practical wisdom and availability taught me that the joy always outweighs the sorrow. My parents became my heroes early in my life.

My teen years coincided with the dawning of Age of Aquarius in the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s. I was a typical teen who tried to enmesh living for myself with living for Jesus, but I only ended up with a tangled turmoil. I gave birth to my first child when I was seventeen. Pastor McMurry visited me in the hospital. This one act earned him hero status in my eyes for I felt my pastor saw my heart where so many others merely judged the outward appearance. Pastor McMurry’s encouragement led me to stay in church, raising my daughter within the church family, and I matured to be available to help others likewise in a loving, non-judgmental way.

Millions of people around the world know the name of my inspirational hero, Corrie ten Boom (1901-1982). I saw the movie The Hiding Place when it was released in 1975. I came to know Corrie ten Boom through her books, though, and her life-story continues to make a profound difference in my life. Her humility and total reliance on God through the most extreme of circumstances while imprisoned in a concentration camp during WW II speaks to my heart and makes her my hero. Her written words encourage me: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

God wants to be known and trusted.  The evidence of God’s hand throughout the stories of my past, the high points and the hard times alike, grounds me with an unwavering conviction that I can trust God with the circumstances of today. I can trust Him with my yet-to-be-revealed future.  The thing that is so extra-ordinary about God is that He cares for ordinary people such as me. His love and care is demonstrated through the actions and words of everyday heroes.  Those whose lives are touched are witness and testimony to God’s glory. My life has been touched; thus, I have that responsibility to be a hero to someone else if God so directs me. At the very least, I must share how I serve a God who is trustworthy and has a plan and purpose for me.  While on my journey this side of heaven, I am always surprised and delighted when God places someone alongside of me who reminds me of God’s love and care.